On some of the most popular softwares comic creators use
(Note: For the purpose of this post, I will abbreviate Comics and Graphic Novels to just comics.)
In anticipation of my upcoming debut graphic novel series Monkey King and The World of Myths: The Monster and The Maze, I want to share with you all the things I have learned and am still learning on making comics.
Let’s begin by looking into a question I get asked a lot:
What computer programs do professional comic artists use?
To the best of my knowledge, it varies. I am not trying to be ambiguous. The truth is, what we use largely depends on our preexisting knowledge and familiarities to the programs, how available we are to spend time and money on learning new softwares, and what effects we want for each book. Every project differs, from style to execution methods, so it is only natural that there is no standard.
With that said, here are some popular programs comic artists use:
Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign, Procreate, Clip Studio Paints EX, and MediBang.
With the exception of MediBang, I have used all four other programs at one point or another. They each have their strengths and weaknesses, and I will share with you my thoughts on them.
Disclaimer: I am not sponsored by any of the softwares, apps, or extensions. I am just a user reflecting upon my personal experience.
First and foremost, the industry leading giant Adobe Photoshop.
This powerhouse is, first and foremost, a photo-editing program. But because of its multi-functional abilities, it has taken over as the dominating program for illustrators. (Corel Painter was the other leading and competing software. I know friends in the concept art industry who switched between Corel Painter and Photoshop, but that was years ago, so I am not sure if it’s still popular. Maybe you can tell me, friends in concept arts!)
The most powerful thing about Photoshop is the wide array of add-ons one can either download for free with an Adobe subscription (such as all the Kyle’s brushes) or purchase (such as all those beautiful, unique pens and brushes on True Grit).
In addition, you can also purchase various plug-ins and extensions to facilitate your work process, depending on how you work. I’ll discuss a few plug-ins I use regularly at another post.
Alas, nothing in this world is perfect, and this includes Photoshop. As powerful as it is, there are some drawbacks.
The program is not designed for comic creations. If you have a 100-page comic book, you will have to create 100 files, and you better have a good filing/naming system to keep track of each page. For this reason, the combined use of Photoshop and InDesign works better for comics.
Adobe subscription is expensive. You are paying for a premium software. Photoshop alone is US$37.99 a month (as of Feb 2024). If you want InDesign as well, you will have to get the whole Adobe bundle (in addition to Photoshop and InDesign, you also get 20 other powerful softwares, like After Effects (for motion graphics), Lightroom (for photos), Dreamweaver (for web design)… etc.) That will cost you US$89.99 a month.
If you want to work on the road, your only option is a laptop and an additional pen tablet. That’s because the Photoshop app for iPad is practically useless for illustrators. Again, this is because Photoshop is a photo-editing program, not an illustration program. Adobe has a different app built for iPad illustrators: Adobe Fresco. (I haven’t used Fresco because I have no time to learn yet another program. Maybe it will work seamlessly Photoshop. Who knows? If you work between Photoshop and Fresco, let me know if you like it (or vice versa)!)
Next comes Adobe InDesign, the industry standard for book publishing.
Not all comic creators use this software. Many will submit their hundreds of Photoshop files (neatly named, I assumed) to the publisher, where the designer or art director then take over to import the files into InDesign. (Each publisher works differently, so it is important to communicate with them on how to set up the files for each project.)
I use it because I have a background in graphic design, which means I am already knowledgeable with the program. In fact, for Monkey King, I wrote the entire book in InDesign. There was no Microsoft Word or Scrivener. This is one of those “exception” case, where I suspect most people don’t do it this way. If you don’t know InDesign, I would recommend skipping this program altogether and use Clip Studio Paint instead. It is a lot less expensive.
Using a combination of Photoshop and InDesign means I am drawing in one program (Photoshop) and writing in another (InDesign). This works well for me because I can see at-a-glance the entire book, but it also means I have to constantly switch back and forth between two programs.
InDesign has the benefit in keeping all my fonts in vector format, which is crucial for printing books.
Downside to InDesign? In addition to the cost I mentioned, this software is not compatible on an iPad. That’s right! You CANNOT use InDesign on your iPad. Again, if you are on the road, this means you will have to get a laptop.
Moving on to the extremely popular Procreate for iPad users!
The biggest attraction to Procreate is definitely the cost: it is a one-time fee at US$14.99 (as of Feb 2024). No subscription. No annual-fee. Nada. If you have an iPad and an apple pencil, you only need to purchase this app once.
That’s an insane bargain! And it is quite powerful! A lot of fantastic professional illustrators use Procreate for their entire book projects. For example, Lunar New Year Love Story by Gene Luen Yang and Leuyen Pham was created entirely in Procreate.
Do I use it? Not much. This has nothing to do with the program. It’s a preference on my end. I don’t like the UI (the User’s Interface). Some illustrators love the “clean” UI workspace, but for me, I want the tools I use regularly to be located at hand. I don’t like to click and open each tab every time I want to switch a tool. That’s like me putting my brushes neatly in a drawer, opening and closing them each time I switch a brush. My desk might look clean, but the whole work process drives me crazy.
(Is it just me who thinks it’s silly that each time I open or close file, it does this zoom in/out feature to the gallery that I find more annoying than amusing?) (Also, all files are saved only in the app itself. I need to import and export files to the cloud separately, which is time consuming.)
One more thing: Procreate does not support CMYK. (It has a fake CMYK channel, not a real one.) Anytime you work with prints, your colors need to be set in CMYK, not RGB. You will have to convert the file to CMYK once you import it back in Photoshop and make changes there.
Last but not least, Clip Studio Paint EX, the program that is built specifically for comic creators.
Let me be honest with you: I wanted to learn CSP (Clip Studio Paint) for about 2 years, and I have finally found some gap between projects to learn the software in the past 2 days. (Yes, I dedicated two whole days to learn it!) I can see why it is popular:
It is designed for making comics. It’s essentially combining Photoshop (where I can draw using a wide array of brushes) and organize all the pages like InDesign (where I can see the whole book at-a-glance).
You can work seamlessly from the desktop/laptop to your iPad. The software supports both platforms. In fact, if you are adamant like me on how you want your workspace to be set up, you can save the workspace and import it directly from one platform to another.
You can save things on the CSP cloud, and you can set it in auto. This means I can work on my desktop in my studio, bring my iPad to lunch and continue to work on the same file on my iPad.
It’s much more cost efficient. Currently, my subscription plan is at US$12.49 per month for access to two platforms (desktop and iPad), and it includes 100GB cloud storage.
If you don’t need multiple platforms, you can purchase the app for a one-time fee instead of going with subscriptions. (You won’t have the cloud feature, but why do you need cloud if you are working only on one platform?) I know some people prefer paying a one-time fee instead of monthly. You have the option here.
There are some handy and easy-to-use features, such as the perspective tool. Photoshop can also do this, but the CSP version is more user-friendly.
Importing and exporting PSD files between Photoshop and CSP is a breeze.
At this point, you might think I am just going CSP all the way from here on forever.
Not so fast.
There are some major drawbacks to CSP as well.
Much like Procreate, there is no real CMYK setting in CSP. It does have a CMYK preview function, but it means either me or the publisher will have to convert the files back into CMYK at some point. A seasoned colorist will know approximately what colors to avoid when working in RGB, but that’s not ideal. Colors are already a little off from monitor to print no matter what, and now I have to imagine how far off the colors will be, and I have to constantly toggle between the CMYK preview setting to check? I am not a fan.
I am a newbie on CSP, but it seems like the text in my layers cannot retain as vector when I export the file? This will be problematic when I hand off the files to publishers. Can someone more knowledgeable than I am let me know if there is a solve to this?
That’s my takes for now on these four popular programs. They each have their pros and cons. For now, my favorite continues to be Photoshop, but CSP comes in a close second for how easy it is to use and how much more budget-friendly it is.
What about you? What’s your favorite softwares to use? What do you like or dislike about them? I would love to hear and learn from you!
PS: Affinity offers a cheaper alternative to the once monopolizing Adobe. I haven’t tried its programs yet (Affinity Photo as an alternative to Photoshop, and Publisher as an alternative to InDesign). If you use them, let me know too what you think!
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